DCS: A-10C Warthog

I had the opportunity to speak to DCS: A-10C Warthog Producer Matt “Wags” Wagner over the weekend about some of the latest developments of this highly-anticipated sim.

Matt provided the 10 brand new work-in-progress (WIP) images you see below that show good progress. Matt also confirmed that they are working on DirectX 11 implementation. How much implementation of DirectX 11 will be included remains to be seen and they are not going to say more until they are 100% sure of what will and won’t be implemented. However, it’s a good sign that Eagle Dynamics is planning for the future and take advantage of the latest hardware.

For those of you who do not have a DirectX 11 video card, no worries, because DCS: A-10C Warthog will still be supporting DirectX 9 and DirectX 10. But as more and more simulations become available with some degree of DirectX 11 optimization, the graphic benefits may be more than most of us can stand to live without. From now until year end, get used to seeing some graphical capabilities that will just not be possible in earlier than DirectX 11 GPUs. This goes for DCS: A-10C Warthog and for several other highly anticipated titles appearing in 4th quarter 2010.

Pictured in the 10 screenshots below is the Nevada (Nellis AFB) terrain. The Black Sea map is still deep in the upgrading process, but look for images of it in the coming weeks. We can also look forward to the next Glowing Amraam video that Matt assures me will be “amazing”. Matt also indicated a lot of work is going into the Nevada airbases (yes, plural) and several of the Black Sea airbases. We hope to see images of these soon.

I asked Matt the question we all want the answer to — when? Like several of you, I was anticipating that all the new DirectX 11 stuff would cause a push back in the release date. Matt surprised me with the same energetic response he gave at the Thrustmaster HOTAS presentation — “absolutely 2010, unless some very unforeseen technical problem happens”. So barring a “showstopper”, expect DCS: A-10C Warthog to still be released in 2010 as we were told back in June. I’m guessing late, late 2010, but definitely before you head to the New Year’s Party to ring in 2011.

And here’s a big surprise that came out of our conversation. DCS: A-10C Warthog will include the ability to load multiple maps, not just the Black Sea map. This in conjunction with a new terrain SDK will allow 3rd party developers to create and import all new terrains into DCS without needing to overwrite the existing one. Perhaps we’ll see a 3rd party cottage industry creating and selling new terrains for DCS. That’s all Matt would say for now, so look for more details on this capability to be announced later on.

If you would like some new wallpaper of these screenshots, click here and go to the Downloads linked in the header graphic. In the full sized 1920 x 1080 screens, you can really see the additional terrain detail and the HDR lighting effects.

DCS: A-10C Warthog just gets better and better.

Two A-10Cs over the Nellis range.

A-10C over the Nellis range.

A-10C over the Nellis range.

A-10C cockpit with targeting pod in air-to-air mode.

Pair of new F-15Es over the Nellis range.

The F-15E never looked so good!

A-10C with new KC-135 tanker.

The new Mi-8MT.

A-10C over the Nellis range.

A-10C over the Nellis range.

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